Traffic cone retriever

ABSTRACT

A motorized land vehicle including a forwardly displaced and opening scoop discharging rearwardly onto the lower end of a rearwardly and upwardly inclined endless conveyor discharging rearwardly at a location with which a transversely shiftable upwardly opening receptacle is registered. The upper discharge end of the conveyor assembly discharges laterally into the front side of the upper portion of the receptacle and the vehicle is adapted to move along a roadway and sequentially engage and pick up traffic cones from the roadway for conveying the cones rearwardly and upwardly along the conveyor assembly for subsequent discharge into the receptacle for automatic stacking therein. The rear end portion of the vehicle includes transversely spaced longitudinally extending isles which may be sequentially filled with stacks of retrieved traffic cones and the conveyor assembly and forwardly displaced scoop are mounted on the vehicle for lateral shifting transversely of the latter and for oscillation of the conveyor assembly and forwardly displaced scoop about a horizontal transverse axis spaced intermediate the opposite ends of the conveyor assembly whereby the forward lower end of the conveyor assembly may be elevated above the roadway for transit from one location to another while the upper rear end of the conveyor assembly is lowered downward toward a support position with the conveyor assembly generally horizontally disposed. The forward end portion of the conveyor assembly which supports the forwardly disposed scoop is articulated for upward swinging movement of the forward scoop supporting end of the conveyor assembly relative to the remainder thereof and the vehicle includes a forwardly and upwardly displaceable operator&#39;&#39;s cab for shifting to a forwardly and upwardly displaced position during traffic cone retrieving operations of the vehicle.

United States Patent [191 Piercey Aug. 7, 1973 TRAFFIC CONE RETRIEVER[76] Inventor: Robert D. Piercey, 238 NW. Garden Balley Blvd., Roseburg,Oreg. 97470 22 Filed: Jan. 19, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 107,735

[52] US. Cl. 214/6 B, 214/6 D, 2l4/6.5,

I 214/83.26, 214/520, 214/522 [51] Int. Cl 860p 1/36 [58] Field ofSearch 214/6 B, 6.5, 83.26,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,599,838 6/1952 Kandoll2l4/83.26 2,702,131 2/1955 Leupke 214/6 B 3,493,136 2/1970 Spellman,Jr... 214/522 X 3,513,991 5/1970 McWilliams 214/41 X 3,537,247 11/1970Hungate 214/6 B X Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Attorney-Clarence A.OBrien and Harvey B. Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT conveyor assembly dischargeslaterally into the front side of the upper portion of the receptacle andthe vehicle is adapted to move along a roadway and sequentially engageand pick up traffic cones from the roadway for conveying the conesrearwardly and upwardly along the conveyor assembly for subsequentdischarge into the receptacle for automatic stacking therein. The rearend portion of the vehicle includes transversely spaced longitudinallyextending isles which may be sequentially filled with stacks ofretrieved traffic cones and the conveyor assembly and forwardlydisplaced scoop are mounted on the vehicle for lateral shiftingtransversely of the latter and for oscillation of the conveyor assemblyand forwardly displaced scoop about a horizontal transverse axis spacedintermediate the opposite ends of the conveyor assembly whereby theforward lower end of the conveyor assembly may be elevated above theroadway for transit from one location to another while the upper rearend of the conveyor assembly is lowered downward toward a supportposition with the conveyor assembly generally horizontally disposed. Theforward end portion of the conveyor assembly which supports theforwardly disposed scoop is articulated for upward swinging movement ofthe forward scoop supporting end of the conveyor assembly relative tothe remainder thereof and the vehicle includes a forwardly and upwardlydisplaceable operators cab for shifting to a forwardly and upwardlydisplaced position during traffic cone retrieving operations of thevehicle.

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TRAFFIC CONE RETRIEVER This invention relates to a traffic coneretriever that mechanically retrieves traffic cones used in connectionwith paint stripping of all hard surfaced roads or freeway systems.Presently, the traffic cones are set on the freshly painted centerlines, skylines and shoulder lines of roads. After the paint is dry,these traffic cones must be retrieved for reuse.

Normally, in painting traffic lines, there will be approximately 75 to100 traffic cones used per mile of painted line. Considering the numberof miles of roads and freeway systems to be painted, the amount oftraffic cones employed by various governmental agencies is astronomicalin number. This invention will expedite and facilitate this traffic coneretrieving process.

The present invention utilizes a traffic cone retrieving process whichis more economical than the present methods used. One such presentmethod utilizes a large-type truck with a seat constructed at the rearof the bed of the truck close to the pavement so that a workman cangrasp the individual traffic cones by hand when the route of the truckis parallel and close enough to the traffic cones. This procedurenormally involves three workmen including the truck driver, the conepicker and the cone stacker who stacks the retrieved cones in the bed ofthe truck. This process isrelatively slow and it is furthermorehazardous in that there is usually no attempt made to stop traffic whilethis work is being done. Not only is a road service vehicle operatingwith the usual flashing caution lights, but this large type truckoperation presents a very slow moving obstruction to free traffic andthe slow rate of speed which must be employed merely magnifies theunsafe operation.

The main object of this invention is to provide a device with thecapability to retrieve traffic cones from the center lines, skylines orshoulder lines of roadways or freeway systems while the device is movingover such roads or freeway systems as a considerably greater rate ofspeed than has been possible heretofore.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism that will becapable of conveying, stacking and storing the retrieved traffic conesby mechanisms under the control of the driver of the vehicle.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a traffic coneretrieving vehicle that will be capable of at least semi-automaticallystoring as many as 1,500 to 2,000 traffic cones at one time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a vehicle in accordancewith the preceding objects that will have the capability of traveling,when in transit from location to another, at highway speeds.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediatelypreceding object, is to provide a vehicle which will be capable ofretrieving, conveying,

stacking and storing traffic cones while the vehicle is traveling inexcess of 35 miles per hour.

Another very important object of this invention is to provide a trafficcone retrieving vehicle which will be 100 per cent operative inaccordance with the preceding objects under the control of a singleworkman.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a traffic coneretrieving vehicle which will, because of its capability of retrievingtraffic cones at high speed, reduce the total number of traffic conesneeded by the various governmental agencies employing the use of trafficcones.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide a traffic cone retrieving apparatus which will conform toconventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction andeasy tooperate so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible,long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the traffic cone retriever of theinstant invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the assemblage illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to FIG. 1 but withthe scoop supporting conveyor assembly of the retriever in its transporthorizontally disposed position having its forward end displaced upwardlyand with the operators cab portion disposed in its rearwardly anddownwardly displaced transit position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view illustratingthe manner in which the conveyor assembly of the vehicle is :mountedthereon for lateral shifting transversely of the latter;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially uponthe plane indicated by the section line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cone stacker or receptacle which isshiftable transversely of the load bed of the traffic cone retriever;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyupon a plane passing through the vertical center of the cone stacker orreceptacle;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one of the roller conveyor sectionsutilized in rearwardly displacing each stack of retrieved cones into anassociated cone storage isle; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional form .of traffic cone tobe retrieved by the machine of the instant invention.

This invention is basically concerned with the retrieving, conveying,stacking and storing of traffic cones used in traffic painting of allhard surface roads, freeways or expressway systems.

The traffic cone retriever may utilize any commercially availablepowered and wheeled chassis of a suitable type and including at leastbasic construction features adapting it to be conformed into a trafficcone retriever in accordance with the present invention.

The traffic cone retriever of the instant invention is referred to ingeneral by the reference numeral 10 and includes any suitableconventional powered and steerable chassis referred to in general by thereference numeral 12. The front of the chassis 12 is provided with atransverse support beam 14 including rack gear teeth 16 along its lowermarginal edge portion. A carriage assembly referred to in general by thereference numeral 18 is mounted on the support beam 14 and includesguide rollers journalled therefrom rollingly engaged with the supportbeam 14. In addition, the carriage assembly includes a lower motor mountportion 22 from which a motor 24, either electric, penumatic orhydraulic, is supported. The motor 24 includes a rotatable output shaft26 upon which a gear wheel 28 is mounted and the gear wheel 28 is meshedwith the rack gear teeth 16 whereby operation of the motor 24 will causethe carriage assembly 18 to shift transversely of the chassis l2longitudinally of the support beam 14.

Although the rack gear and companion gear wheel have been illustrated asa means to laterally shift the carriage assembly 18 along the supportbeam 14, other means such as a sprocket wheel utilized on the outputshaft 26 in lieu of the gear wheel 28 could be utilized with thatsprocket wheel engaged with a link chain section extending along thesupport beam 14, anchored relative to the latter and guided so as to bemaintained in engagement with the alternate sprocket wheel. in anyevent, either method of shifting the carriage assembly 18 may includecontrol actuating structure for indicating when the carriage assembly 18is precisely positioned in any one of seven predetermined locationsspaced along the support beam 14 for a purpose to be hereinafter morefully set forth.

A conveyor assembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 30is provided and includes a pair of depending opposite side mountingplates 32 snugly received between and pivotally supported from a pair ofsimilar forwardly projecting mounting plates 34 carried by the carriageassembly 18. The mounting plates 32 are pivotally supported from themounting plates 34 by means of pivot bolts 36 and a connecting shaft 38extends and is secured between the mounting plates 32.

A second pair of apertured mounting plates 40 project forwardly from thecarriage assembly 18 and have the lower end of a fluid cylinder 42pivotally secured therebetween as at 44 while the upper end of theextensible fluid cylinder is mounted on the connecting rod 38. Inaddition, the carriage assembly 18 includes a forwardly projectingmounting plate portion 46 through which a screw shaft 48 provided with acrank handle 50 is threadedly engaged and the upper end of the screwshaft 48, see FIG. 6, has a spring seat 52 journalled thereon. The lefthand mounting plate 32 includes an integral mounting bracket 54 to whoseundersurface the upper end of a compression spring 56 is secured and thelower end of the compression spring 56 seats against the spring seat 52.Accordingly, the screw shaft 48 may be rotated to adjust the compressionof the spring 56 in any oscillated position of the conveyor assembly 30,which oscillated position is determined by the amount the fluid motor orcylinder 42 is extended or retracted by any suitable attendant fluidpressure system (not shown).

The conveyor assembly 30 includes opposite side upper and lower railingsections 58 and 60 and the bottom wall of the conveyor assembly 30 isdefined by the upper reach 62 of an endless flexible conveyor member 64,see FIG. 6, driven by means of an electric, pneumatic or hydraulic motor66 carried by the forward lower end of the conveyor assembly 30, seeFIGS. 1, 2 and 4.

The forward lower ends of the railing sections 60 are flaired as at 68,see FIG. 2, to define a forwardly opening and rearwardly taperingentrance throat 70 therebetween. In addition, the forward lower end ofthe conveyor assembly 60 includes a scoop plate 72 disposed at the rearend of the entrance throat and terminating rearwardly at the lowerforward end extremityof the upper reach 62 of the conveyor member 64.

A pair of opposite side paddle wheel assemblies 74 are journalled fromthe forward lower end portions of the railing sections 60 for rotationabout upstanding axes and each of the paddle wheel assemblies 74includes three radially outwardly extending paddle portions 76. Thepaddle wheel assemblies 74 are also driven from the motor 66 by anysuitable power transmission means (not shown) capable of driving thepaddle wheel assemblies 74 at speeds corresponding to the speed of theconveyor member 64. Of course, the compression spring 56 is provided tocounterbalance the conveyor assembly 30, at least to some extent, and toalso provide a means whereby the conveyor assembly 30 will be supportedfrom the carriage assembly 18 at least in a partially floating mannerwhereby the forward lower end of the conveyor assembly 30 may morereadily move up and down in accordance with road surface irregularities.However, the forward lower end of the conveyor assembly 30 includesopposite side support wheels 78 for rolling over the roadway 80 uponwhich the traffic cone retriever 10 is disposed.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 of thedrawings, it may be seen that the chassis 12 includes opposite sideforward longitudinal members 82 to which the lower end portions ofopposite side pairs of support legs 84 and 86 are pivotally secured asat 88. The legs 84 and 86 include downward extensions 84 and 86 havingthe opposite ends of pairs of connecting links 90 pivotally securedthereto as at 92 and the rear ends of the connecting links 90 arepivotally secured to the forward ends of a pair of pneumatic or fluidcylinders 94 as at 96. The rear ends of the cylinders 94 are pivotallysupported from mounting brackets 98 carried by opposite sides of thechassis 12 as at 100. Accordingly, upon extension and retraction of thecylinders 94 carried by the opposite sides of the chassis 12, the upperends of the support legs 84 and 86 will be swung rearwardly andforwardly, respectively.

A pair of front and rear U-shaped members 104 and 106 are provided andinclude downwardly directed tubular opposite ends in which the upperends of the support legs 84 and 86 are telescopingly received. Ahydraulic cylinder 108 is connected between each leg 84 and 86 and thecorresponding U-shaped member whereby the U-shaped members 104 and 106may be extended upwardly and retracted downwardly relative to thesupport legs 84 and 86.

An operator's cab assembly referred to in general by the referencenumeral 110 is supported from the midportions of the U-shaped members104 and 106 and is therefore extended upwardly with the U-shaped members104 and 106 during extension of the cylinders 108. Further, theoperator's cab assembly 110 may be swung forwardly and rearwardly withthe U-shaped members 104 and 106 upon retraction and extension of thecylinders 94. In addition, the operator's cab assembly 110 includes alazy tongs type of access stepladder referred to in general by thereference numeral 112 supported therefrom whereby access to the cabassembly 110 may be readily gained by the operator of the cone retriever10.

That portion of the conveyor assembly 30 from which the rail sections 60are supported is pivotally supported from the forward end portion of theremainder of the conveyor assembly as at 114 and a latch assemblyreferred to in general by the reference numeral 116 is operative tosecure this articulated forward end portion of the conveyor assembly 30in the operative position thereof illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings.In addition, the articulated forward lower end portion of the conveyorassembly 30 includes a latch component 118 with which the latchassemblies 116 may be selectively engaged in order to maintain theforward articulated lower end portion of the con veyor assembly 30 inposition with its forward extremities swung upwardly and with thearticulated end portion of the conveyor assembly 30 disposed atsubstantially degrees relative to the remainder of the conveyor assembly30.

The rear portion of the chassis 12 includes upstanding opposite sidewalls 120 interconnected at their rear ends by means of a rear wall 122and the walls 120 and 122 define a load bed therebetween. All but thefront marginal edge portion of the load bed disposed between the sidewalls 120 is defined by seven side-byside storage aisles 124 and eachstorage aisle 124 includes three longitudinally aligned and slightlyrearwardly and downwardly inclined roller conveyor sections 126including generally rectangular frames 128 and a plurality oftransversely extending and longitduinally spaced rollers 130 journalledfrom opposite side longitudinal members 132 of each of the frames 128.

The front marginal edge portion of the load bed defined between the sidewalls 120 is defined by a forward transversely extending deck 134 and anupstanding container or receptacle referred to in general by thereference numeral 136, see FIG. 7, is disposed upon the deck 134 andprovided with lower end supporting rollers 138 for rolling movement ofthe container or receptacle 136 along the deck 134 transversely of theload bed. The container or receptacle includes opposite side walls 140and a rear wall 142 including an open lower portion removably closed bymeans of spring urged gate members 144 pivotally supported from the rearmarginal edge portions of the side walls 140 by hinge assemblies 146 formovement between generally parallel closed positions such as thoseillustrated in FIG. 7 of the drawings and open positions with the freemarginal edge portions of the gate members 144 swung rearwardly.

The forward side of the container or receptacle 136 is open at its upperportion and closed at its lower portion by means of an upright pushplate 148 carried by the free end of the piston rod portion 150 of afluid motor 152 whose cylinder portion 154 is supported from a suitableframework 156 supported from the front marginal edge portions of theside walls 140 of the container or receptacle 136. The upper openportion of the container or receptacle 136 disposed above the push plate148 is disposed in registry with the upper discharge end of the conveyorassembly 30 when the latter in its operative position illustrated inFIG. 1 of the drawings. Accordingly, traffic cones engaged by the scoopplate 74 and the paddle wheel assembly 74 for movement onto the lowerend of the upper reach 62 of the conveyor member 64 are ultimatelydischarged from the upper discharge end of the upper reach 62 forfalling downwardly in the container or receptacle 136 to be supportedfrom the bottom wall 152 thereof with each successive traffic cone suchas that illustrated in FIG. 10 of the drawings and designated by thereference numeral 155 stacked upon the last cone discharged into thecontainer or receptacle 136. The bottom wall 156 of the container orreceptacle 136 may be of the floating type and operatively associatedwith a pressure switch (not shown) operative to control the actuation ofthe fluid motor 152 when a sufficient number of traffic cones arestacked within the container or receptacle 136 to actuate the pressureswitch whereupon the fluid motor I52 will be actuated to discharge thestack of cones rearwardly between the gate members 144 of the containeror receptacle 136. Of course, the gate members 144 are spring urged tothe closed positions thereof by means of compression springs 158, seeFIGS. 7 and 8, and may therefore be urged toward the open positions bymovment of a stack of cones rearwardly from the container or receptacle136 under the influence of the pressure plate 148. As soon as each stackof cones is rearwardly ejected from the container or receptacle 136 thegate members 144 are free to swing toward their closed positionsillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawings.

It will be noted that the side walls 140 of the container or receptacle136 include laterally outwardly projecting abutments 160. Theseabutments 160 are engageable by horizontal extensions 162 of the upperrear ends of the railing sections 58 between which the side walls 140 ofthe container or receptacle 136 are received. Accordingly, the containeror receptacle 136 is keyed to the upper rear end of the coneyor assembly30 for lateral shifting with the latter. However, when the forward lowerend portion of the conveyor assembly 30 is swung to the retractedinoperative position thereof illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings, thefluid cylinder 42 illustrated in FIG. 6 may be extended to swing theupper end of the conveyor assembly 30 upwardly so as to disengage theextensions 162 from the container or receptacle 136 after which thelatter may be shifted toward the extreme right hand side of the chassis12 and the conveyor assembly 30 may be shifted to the extreme left handside of the chassis l2 and lowered to the horizontal inoperative transitposition illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. Thereafter, thecylinders 94 may be extended to swing the cab assembly 110 rearwardlyand upwardly until the support legs 84 and 86 are vertically disposedand thereafter the cylinders 108 maybe retracted so as to lower the cabassembly 110 to the transit position thereof illustrated in FIG. 4 ofthe drawings.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the drive means by which the carriageassembly 18 is shifted transversely of thechassis 12 may include controlmeans for actuating signals for the operator within the cab assembly 110to determine when the conveyor assembly 30 and container or receptacle136 are registered with one of the storage aisles 124.

In operation, if the traffic cone retriever 10 is to be utilized inretrieving traffic cones from the extreme right hand side of a trafficlane, the conveyor assembly and container or receptacle 136 may beshifted to the extreme right hand side of the chassis 12. With theconveyor assembly 30 in the operative position thereof illustrated inFIG. 1 of the drawings, the conveyor assembly 30 will be operative topick up or retrieve traffic cones as the traffic cone retriever 10 ismoving at road speeds in excess of 35 miles per hour. As each individualcone is contacted by the scoop plate 72, it is picked up from theroadway and acted upon by the paddle wheel 74 to displace the conerearwardly onto the lower end of the upper reach 62 of the conveyor 64.Then, the traffic cone is conveyed upwardly along the conveyor assembly30 and discharged downwardly into the container or receptacle 136. Aftera predetermined number of cones has been stacked within the container orreceptacle 136, the weight of the stacked cones will be sufficient toactuate a weight sensitive switch (not shown) for actuation of the fluidmotor 52 whereupon the push plate 148 will eject the stack of trafficcones within the container or receptacle 136 rearwardly through the gatemembers 142 and into the extreme right hand aisle 124 for movement bygravity to the rear end of the extreme right hand aisle 124. As eachaisle 124 becomes filled, the motor 24 may be actuated to laterallyshift the conveyor assembly 30 and container or receptacle 136 inregistry with the next aisle. Of course, if the traffic cone is to beretrieved or disposed at the extreme left hand marginal portion of atraffic lane, the conveyor assembly 30 and container or receptacle 136may be shifted to the extreme left hand side of the chassis 12.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A traffic cone retriever including a mobile chassis having front andrear ends, a rearwardly and upwardly inclined elongated conveyorassembly supported from said chassis and including a lower forward endadapted to be moved along a roadway in close proximity thereto, and anupstanding container supported in registry with the upper discharge endof the conveyor assembly for sequentially receiving traffic conesdischarged from the discharge end of said conveyor assembly, saiddischarge end being registered with the upper end portion of saidcontainer whereby the cones discharged into said container from saidconveyor assembly may fall by gravity to the lower end portion of thecontainer with each successive cone received by the container stacked ontop of the last received cone, said chassis including means defining astorage isle extending longitudinally of said chassis with its forwardend registered with the back side of said container, and meansoperatively associated with said container for intermittently laterallyrearwardly ejecting stacks of cones collected in said container into theforward end of said isle, said chassis including a plurality ofside-byside longitudinal storage isles, means supporting said conveyorassembly and said container from said chassis for adjustable shiftingtransversely thereof whereby said container may be succsessivelyregistered with the forward ends of each of said storage isles.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said storage isle includes arearwardly and downwardly inclined bottom surface defined bylongitudinally extending roller conveyor means, whereby each ejectedstack of cones placed in the front of said isle will move by gravity tothe rearmost unoccupied portion of said isle.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said conveyor assembly issupported, intermediate its opposite ends from a carriage, meanssupporting said carriage from said chassis for adjustable shiftinglaterally of the latter.

4. The combination of claim 3 including means supporting said conveyorassembly from said carriage for oscillation relative thereto about ahorizontal transverse axis.

5. The combination of claim 4 including means supporting said lowerforward end of said conveyor assembly from the remainder of saidconveyor assembly for oscillation relative thereto about a horizontaltransverse axis, whereby the forward terminal end of said lower forwardend may be swung upwardly to a transit position.

6. The combination of claim 1 including an operators cab assemblysupported forwardly and above the transverse forwardly and downwardlyinclined plane in which said conveyor assembly is disposed.

7. The combination of claim 6 including means supporting said cabassembly from said chassis for rearward and downward shifting to atransit position.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said conveyor assembly issupported intermediate its opposite ends from a carriage meanssupporting said carriage from said chassis for adjustable shiftinglaterally of the latter.

9. The combination of claim 8 including means supporting said conveyorassembly from said carriage for oscillation relative thereto about ahorizontal transverse axis.

10. The combination of claim 9 including means supporting said lowerforward end of said conveyor assembly from the remainder of saidconveyor assembly for oscillation relative thereto about a horizontaltransverse axis, whereby the forward terminal end of said lower forwardend may be swung upwardly to a transit position.

1 l. A traffic cone retriever comprising a mobile chassis, traffic coneengaging and pick up means carried by said chassis and including a lowerinlet for disposition at road level and an elevated discharge end aswell as conveyor means for conveying the retrieved cones from said inletend to said discharge end, cone stacking means registered with thedischarge end of said pick up means operative to receive conesdischarged therefrom and stack the received cones, said chassisincluding an elongated generally horizontal storage isle having oneinlet end registered with said cone stacking means, said stacking meansincluding cone stack ejecting means operable to eject stacks of conestherefrom into said one end of said isle, said chassis including aplurality of elongated storage isles including a first set ofcorresponding inlet ends, means supporting said cone stacking means fromsaid chassis for adjustable shifting to positions registered with saidstorage isle inlet ends.

12. The combination of claim 11 wherein said storage isles are disposedin side-by-side relation, said means supporting said cone stacking meanssupporting the latter from said chassis for movement along a path withwhich said corresponding inlet ends are registered.

13. The combination of claim 12 including means supporting said trafficcone engaging and pick up means from said chassis for movement along asecond path paralleling said first path, whereby said pick up means andstacking means may be coupled together and moved as a unit duringshifting of said stacking means to a position registered with selectedstorage isle inlet ends.

parallelogram linkage means connected between the forward end portion ofsaid chassis and said operators cab assembly, said parallelogram linkagemeans supporting said operators cab assembly from the forward endportion of said chassis for angular displacement and shifting radiallywith respect to a horizontal transverse axis disposed below saidoperators cab assembly. l

1. A traffic cone retriever including a mobile chassis having front andrear ends, a rearwardly and upwardly inclined elongated conveyorassembly supported from said chassis and including a lower forward endadapted to be moved along a roadway in close proximity thereto, and anupstanding container supported in registry with the upper discharge endof the conveyor assembly for sequentially receiving traffic conesdischarged from the discharge end of said conveyor assembly, saiddischarge end being registered with the upper end portion of saidcontainer whereby the cones discharged into said container from saidconveyor assembly may fall by gravity to the lower end portion of thecontainer with each successive cone received by the container stacked ontop of the last received cone, said chassis including means defining astorage isle extending longitudinally of said chassis with its forwardend registered with the back side of said container, and meansoperatively associated with said container for intermittently laterallyrearwardly ejecting stacks of cones collected in said container into theforward end of said isle, said chassis including a plurality ofside-by-side longitudinal storage isles, means supporting said conveyorassembly and said container from said chassis for adjustable shiftingtransversely thereof whereby said container may be succsessivelyregistered with the forward ends of each of said storage isles.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein said storage isle includes a rearwardlyand downwardly inclined bottom surface defined by longitudinallyextending roller conveyor means, whereby each ejected stack of conesplaced in the front of said isle will move by gravity to the rearmostunoccupied portion of said isle.
 3. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid conveyor assembly is supported, intermediate its opposite ends froma carriage, means supporting said carriage from said chassis foradjustable shifting laterally of the latter.
 4. The combination of claim3 including means supporting said conveyor assembly from said carriagefor oscillation relative thereto about a horizontal transverse axis. 5.The combination of claim 4 including means supporting said lower forwardend of said conveyor assembly from the remainder of said conveyorassembly for oscillation relative thereto about a horizontal transverseaxis, whereby the forward terminal end of said lower forward end may beswung upwardly to a transit position.
 6. The combination of claim 1including an operator''s cab assembly supported forwardly and above thetransverse forwardly and downwardly inclined plane in which saidconveyor assembly is disposed.
 7. The combination of claim 6 includingmeans supporting said cab assembly from said chassis for rearward anddownward shifting to a transit position.
 8. The combination of claim 7wherein said conveyor assembly is supported intermediate its oppositeends from a carriage means supporting said carriage from said chassisfor adjustable shifting laterally of the latter.
 9. The combination ofclaim 8 including means supporting said conveyor assembly from saidcarriage for oscillation relative thereto about a horizontal transverseaxis.
 10. The combination of claim 9 including means supporting saidlower forward end of said conveyor assembly from the remainder of saidconveyor assembly for oscillation relative thereto about a horizontaltransverse axis, whereby the forward terminal end of said lower forwardend may be swung upwardly to a transit position.
 11. A traffic coneretriever comprising a mobile chassis, traffic cone engaging and pick upmeans carried by said chassis and including a lower inlet fordisposition at road level and an elevated discharge end as well asconveyor means for conveying the retrieved cones from said inlet end tosaid discharge end, cone stacking means registered with the dischargeend of said pick up means operative to receive cones dischargedtherefrom and stack the received cones, said chassis including anelongated generally horizontal storage isle having one inlet endregistered with said cone stacking means, said stacking means includingcone stack ejecting means operable to eject stacks of cones therefrominto said one end of said isle, said chassis including a plurality ofelongated storage isles including a first set of corresponding inletends, means supporting said cone stacking means from said chassis foradjustable shifting to positions registered with said storage isle inletends.
 12. The combination of claim 11 wherein said storage isles aredisposed in side-by-side relation, said means supporting said conestacking means supporting the latter from said chassis for movementalong a path with which said corresponding inlet ends are registered.13. The combination of claim 12 including means supporting said trafficcone engaging and pick up means from said chassis for movement along asecond path paralleling said first path, whereby said pick up means andstacking means may be coupled together and moved as a unit duringshifting of said stacking means to a position registered with selectedstorage isle inlet ends.
 14. A mobile chassis including front and rearends, a rearwardly and upwardly inclined elongated conveyor assemblysupported from said chassis and including a lower forward end portionadapted to be moved along the surface over which said chassis is beingforwardly advanced, the forward end portion of said conveyor projectingforwardly of said chassis, an operator''s cab assembly overlaping saidconveyor assembly telescopic parallelogram linkage means connectedbetween the forward end portion of said chassis and said operator''s cabassembly, said parallelogram linkage means supporting said operator''scab assembly from the forward end portion of said chassis for angulardisplacement and shifting radially with respect to a horizontaltransverse axis disposed below said operator''s cab assembly.